“‘Making Special’ or Making Sacred? Revisiting Our Conception of Art”
The term “sacred art” is frequently used in to refer to works of literary, musical, or visual art that serve a religious purpose or call upon religious imagery. Yet according to Merriam-Webster, the adjective “sacred” can be applied more broadly to things that are “entitled to reverence and respect” and “highly valued and important”. Do these broader definitions change the way we think about the arts and sacredness? Does this mean that all art could be considered sacred? Is art sacred because of the space we make for it or because of something in the artwork itself?
This Art & Culture conversation will pursue these questions through the framework of anthropologist Ellen Dissanayake’s unique perspective on art as a behavioral ritual of ‘making special’ and the implications this perspective may have for the definition of sacred art, the method of creating space for the arts as a sacred aspect of day-to-day culture, and the treatment of specific works of art in institutional or public settings.
Works considered: The Core of Art: Making Special by Ellen Dissanayake; Exhibiting Faith in the Museum and Beyond panel discussion hosted by Art & Christianity.